Letters to the Editor
New Direction For DPS
Park Hill newcomers, as well as longtime residents, benefit from reading Lynn Kalinauskas’s critical accounting in your December issue of Denver Public School’s market-driven, top-down education system launched by former Superintendent Michael Bennet in 2006.
Tragically, the district’s so-called “reform” agenda has disrupted neighborhoods, churned students, segregated schools, demoralized teachers and confused families without closing the opportunity gap in learning between white students and students of color. Excessive testing, shuttering schools and risky financing schemes have wasted limited tax dollars.
The new DPS board promises a change in direction focused on putting children and families in front of corporate profits or misguided philosophies. As a former teacher and grandparent of a DPS student, this new direction under the leadership of board president Carrie Olson can’t come soon enough.
C.L. Harmer, Denver
It Was Personal
I read Lynn Kalinauskas’s column in the December Greater Park Hill News. I was nodding the entire time. As part of the silenced resistance, it was so great to see our story told. Thank you.
Susan Gamble, Park Hill
Problem In The Classrooms
Ms. Kalinauskas’s December column on the school board election had me “just shaking my head.” As a substitute teacher in Aurora and DPS middle schools, I can tell you that the problem with the schools is not “more equity, better resourced schools, stronger community involvement, financial transparency, respect for teachers and students, . . .”
The problem is that two out of three of our students are disruptive in class and disrupt the classroom environment and teachers are not allowed to do anything about it. Two out of three of our students are not “proficient” in their basic course work. This is because two out of three of our students have no intention of learning. And their families apparently have little interest in instilling in their kids a love of education and respect for teachers.
I know of no other profession or work environment in which a staff member (i.e. a teacher) would be permitted to be abused each day at work as our teachers are. I am hopeful that the next teachers’ strike will be centered on a demand for orderly classrooms. That is the only way our schools will improve.
Tony V. Uva, Denver
BRT Sure To Backfire
I attended the East Area Plan meeting on Nov. 23 and am writing in regards to the issue of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan, which would reduce traffic lanes on Colfax to one lane in each direction.
I asked the following question during the breakout sessions to several of our city representatives: “Since you have all of the emails from the meeting it would be insightful to know who took the bus, walked, or drove their vehicles. That includes the city workers who were there as well.”
I found it very disconcerting that Mike Gill (the principal project manager at Denver Public Works) drove to the meeting from City Park West, citing “time constraints.”
I walked to the meeting, even though it took me over 30 minutes trekking through others’ yards in the snow due to the lack of sidewalks in our neighborhood.
As I stated during the open forum, I am very concerned that increasing density on Colfax and subsequently reducing two car/traffic lanes on Colfax will greatly increase traffic in our neighborhood and introduce numerous safety concerns. There are multiple school zones on Montview Boulevard and we already having speeding and safety issues. For example, when biking on Montview to pick up our son from school, cars whiz by illegally, going around on the right into the bike lane. How will the city prevent this from happening when more cars will be using Montview for through traffic? What will happen when a car hits a child in one of the multiple school zones? Or a cyclist? This will happen.
There was a gentleman speaking from the department overseeing the Bus Rapid Transit plan during the open forum. He stated that one-third of the people using cars on Colfax will switch to the bus line. I find this hard to believe and wonder where he is getting his research. Please view the following links, which were not hard to find:
1. “Understanding the Recent Transit Ridership: Streetsblog USA” — Public transit ridership in major US cities has been flat or declining over the past few years. (usa.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/01/19-04931-Transit-Trends.pdf)
2. “2018 Was the Year of the Car, and Transit Ridership Felt It.” — Public transit ridership in 2018 was down two percent from the year before, continuing a trend of declining transit use across the country. (govtech.com/fs/transportation/2018-Was-the-Year-of-the-Car-and-Transit-Ridership-Felt-It.html)
I voted for an increase in city funds for transportation in 2017. But I did not vote for this. In the future I will be much more hesitant to vote for any increase in funding for transportation. I am in favor of better transportation, but the city’s idea of forcing people to use the bus by decreasing lanes of car traffic will backfire.
Marianne Rinehart, Park Hill
Profoundly Disappointed
After attending the Nov. 23 meeting to discuss and comment on the East Area Plan, I was profoundly disappointed with the process. I had thought that the forum would allow discussion on all aspects of the proposed plan, but the city planners opened up feedback on just two options in a workshop model. Tables of 10 or more residents were to review, discuss and vote among planner-defined options in just 20 minutes allocated to each of the two options.
For some residents whose attendance was their first exposure to the East Area Plan, explaining the defined options used up valuable time so that in the end their voices were not truly being heard.
My largest concern is that the underlying predicate of the East Area Plan is the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, which has not been fully discussed. There were over 500 attendees at the November meeting and the clear majority was opposed to BRT on Colfax. I have sent a letter to city planners, the members of Denver City Council, and RTD District representatives. I will be sending a similar letter to CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew to request that CDOT not consent to the takeover of the general traffic lanes of Colfax Avenue.
I believe the objective data does not support BRT to proceed further.
Kathy R. Speed, East Colfax
Fight The eBook Embargo
At the Denver Public Library, we are staunch believers in providing access to all. Thousands of our customers use digital content as their preferred—and often only—access to books.
The library has joined the campaign against the eBook embargo put in place by Macmillan Publishers. Under the new structure, libraries are allowed to purchase only one copy upon release of a popular new title in eBook format, after which the publisher will impose an eight-week embargo on additional copies of that title sold to libraries.
This structure makes it a challenge, if not impossible to provide access to all; the Macmillan policy inhibited reasonable availability. Customers with a disability or learning issues will have fewer options, and readers living in remote locations, along with students and researchers, will also be negatively affected.
Macmillian is the only major publisher to propose such an embargo.
We are honored to be a beloved institution in our community and we are grateful for countless allies and advocates. We have asked our customers to add their names to a petition launched by the American Library Association at eBooksForAll.org calling for Macmillan to reverse its policy.
Libraries must remain vigilant about ensuring fair and equitable access for all, which is why we – along with the 210,000 individuals who have signed the petition to date – call for this policy to be reversed.
Michelle Jeske, Denver City Librarian
Editor’s Note: We love your letters, and give preference to those that address an issue that has been covered in the newspaper, or a topic that is Park Hill or Denver-specific. Send letters to editor@greaterparkhill.org, and include your full name, and the neighborhood in which you live. Deadlines are the 15th of each month, for the following month’s issue.